Reverse (Bittersweet Symphony Duet #2)

FORTY “Woman”

FORTY

“Woman”

Mumford & Sons

Easton

“W ake up, Sleeping Beauty,” I murmur against her temple resting on my chest as Joel pulls the SUV to a stop.

She rouses, her hand sliding up my chest as she lifts and glances out of the window. “Where are we?”

“A private airstrip at Love Field.” Covering her hand with mine, I raise my chin to Joel in the rearview. “Give us a minute, would you, man?”

“Sure,” Joel replies, winking at Natalie before making a quick exit.

“What the hell?” she turns to me, voice still coated in sleep. “Easton, please tell me you did not charter a plane to get me home.”

“I did not charter a plane to get you home,” I repeat robotically before she playfully slaps my chest.

“Seriously? I could have flown commercial. It’s like fifteen minutes in the air from Dallas to Austin.”

“I promised to get you home and tuck you in by midnight. This is the only way to keep half of that promise because if I tuck you in, I’m not going to make it to my next show.”

“I understand,” she smiles. “I really do. I don’t want to leave you either. Especially now.” She leans in and presses a kiss to my throat.

Briefly, I flashback to a memory of the way she looked hovering above me as I stroked the chain secured around her waist. The feel of her wet heat clenching around me as she stared back at me was the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever witnessed. But it was the feeling bouncing between us that burned that moment into memory as one I’ll never forget.

My attraction for her hums through me now—a beastly threat that I, in no way, want to cage. Even if the depth of what I already feel for her intimidates me, I won’t do a single thing to stop it. It’s the ferocity in which I want her—in my need to possess her—that has me leaping over hurdles I’ve never dared attempt before. This is why it’s important we finish this conversation before she takes off. She presses another kiss to my throat before pulling back to trace my jaw.

“Baby, hold up,” I groan and put a little distance between us.

“Why?” She pulls back and glances around in alarm. “Can they see into the windows?”

“No, but I’m already hard, and if you do that again, I will fuck the hell out of you in this SUV with Joel standing feet away.”

“You act like I don’t have a say in that.”

“Want to test me?” I taunt.

“No,” she replies with a smirk as I force myself back to the point.

“We haven’t managed to get a full conversation in all day.”

She arches a brow.

“That wasn’t a complaint.”

Her lips curve into a sultry, reflective smile, and I shoot a quick prayer up to the creator of souls that this feeling never leaves me.

“I can’t believe you chartered a plane for me.”

“There will be a car waiting when you land to take you home.”

“Easton, it’s too much.”

“No, it’s not,” I defend, running my fingers through the curls resting on her shoulder.

“I hate that you spent the money.”

“Worth it for me, especially since I now know what death traps Texas highways are. I don’t want you driving on them, fucking

ever , but that’s not something I can remedy tonight.” I lift my chin toward the window. “This is the fastest, safest way to get you home, and something tells me it won’t be your first time flying private.”

She nods, her neck reddening slightly. “Hearst Media owns a jet. So yeah, I can’t say it’s my first time on a private plane.” She glances at the waiting plane just outside the window. “But it’s a bit much.”

“You know that matters fuck all to me, right?”

“I just don’t want you to think I expect these things.”

“Expect a lot from me,” I urge her. “A lot.”

“Easton,” she murmurs back, our hands gathering momentum as we stroke each other, “you don’t have to cater to me.”

“I want to, so let me.”

“Okay,” she sighs, “as long as you allow me the same freedom.”

“We’ll see.”

She rolls her eyes. “You’re an unbearable ass. So, are you going to keep me in suspense?”

“I want this to work,” I declare, putting her on guard, causing her smile to dim.

“Me too.”

“So, this is going to seem hard to navigate for a while, but there are some things we can agree on now to make it easier. Going caveman jealous last night . . . I hated the feeling.”

She laughs and shakes her head before ducking a little under my glare.

“Sorry, but it is a bit ridiculous. You are aware that by now, there are thousands of women just dying for you to bed them.”

“You could have just as easily had any man at that party by simply looking at them last night. We’re on an even playing field, and don’t think for one second that we aren’t.”

“I hate to disagree, but men don’t exactly toss their boxers on my desk while I’m working.”

“I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t take much to make that happen.”

She smiles, and as much as the sight of it lights me up, I have no choice but to dampen the mood. “We really need to have this conversation.”

“I’m listening.”

“Name all the people you trust.”

“Easy, my parents and my best friends Holly and Damon. I trust them all implicitly. Then there’s my dad’s sister, my Aunt Nikki, and his cousin, Sierra, but she lives in California now. Why?”

“From this moment forward, you can’t trust any of them.”

“What?” She squints like the notion is ridiculous.

“Not when it comes to us. Hear me out,” I plea. “If you really want to keep us under wraps, we have to go completely off the fucking radar. No confidants. Just for the time being. Percy excluded.”

“My horse ? Seriously?”

“Has to be this way.”

“But last night—” she starts, and I lift my hand.

“Last night, a few people noticed me leaving the party with a stunning but unrecognizable woman. With a party like that, it’s par for the course. That’s why I wasn’t worried.”

“Geesh,” she widens her eyes, “groupie point taken.”

“That won’t be the case the first time the media gets a clear shot of us together.”

“Why do you think I’ve been so paranoid?”

“We really had nothing to hide but our association before last night.”

“Now we do.” Her smile reappears.

“Yeah, baby, we do,” I grin back. “As much as I hate this next part, and I think you’re going to too, I don’t think you should attend any more shows for a while. Especially since my dad will be at a lot of them and lodging where the band is after.”

“You’re right. I hate it. Watching you play is my new addiction.”

“I want you there. I love singing to you, but seriously, Natalie, if you want this to remain a secret, we can’t let anyone see us together. And until we come clean with our folks, I’ll be doling out nondisclosures like candy. Even then, we really aren’t safe.”

“I am the media, Easton, so I understand, obviously , but not even Holly ?”

“It’s a good thing you didn’t tell her already and hear me out on why.”

She gestures for me to continue.

“So, you tell Holly but leave out the details of who. Guess who she’s going to tell?”

“No one. I told you she—”

“Until she accidentally slips up around Damon or during dinner with your parents. From any point—and I mean any point at all—that you cave and confess, no matter who it’s to, it could snowball. Take it from me. The people you trust the most have people they trust most. Your life-or-death secret becomes a secret they have coffee over in hushed whispers.”

“Holly would never—”

I lift a brow.

“Damn, okay, I’ve got it.” She nods. “I see the logic.”

“Joel is the only human alive I truly trust to keep us safe, and we’re going to need him, a lot if we’re going to pull this off.”

“Okay, I believe you, and I adore Joel.”

“I know you do, Beauty. He feels the same.”

I unhook her seatbelt and pull her to straddle me.

“I’ll have to be all of it, your boyfriend, your best friend, and confidant. I’m fine with that, just until we come clean with our parents. Okay?”

She nods firmly. “Okay. Percy it is.”

“Or me,” I try to assure her. “You can bitch about me to me .”

“That’s not the way it works,” she grins.

“I know. Doesn’t matter anyway. I’ll know when you’re pissed. You’re almost as bad as my mom at hiding your emotions.”

“First of all, I’m not an emotional—”

“Just with me,” I finish, every speeding heartbeat due to her proximity confirming what I already know—this woman is very close to owning me .

“And while the ‘no ex within a hundred miles rule’ is very fucking much in effect,” I add, “insecurity and jealousy will end us faster than our discovery might—at least when it comes to your line of thinking.”

“It would be yours too if you knew what I do. Easton, please just read the emails.”

“No,” I say firmly before swiftly changing the subject. “So, we have to keep our heads at all times. Any photo or anything you read in print gets discussed before it’s argued about.”

“Tell that to yourself and my battered vagina. You really are a jealous idiot, which is ironic because I’m the one who has to deal with hordes of women trying to weasel their way into your hotel room.”

I shake my head in frustration. “You don’t have to deal with that. You won’t ever have to deal with that. I’ve—”

“Been there, yes, I know. That’s all I need to know, thank you very much.” Her eyes dim. “Atlanta next, right?”

I can’t help my grin. “You know my show schedule?”

Her neck reddens, and I grin. “She blushes.”

“You’re making me a weak woman.”

“You’re kidding, right?” I chuckle and brush my thumb beneath her lower lip. “You fought like a four-star fucking general last night.”

“Before I lost,” she adds.

“No, baby. Coming clean with me, that took strength, and thank fuck you did.”

“I’ve never been happier about losing,” she murmurs as Joel taps once on the hood, signaling our time is up. I fight the urge to fly with her and spend a week in Austin, getting lost in her world, inside her. Although, I doubt that will stifle enough of the rapidly increasing ache. “The next few stops are going to be brutal schedule-wise, but can you fly out in two weeks? Lake Tahoe?”

“Yes,” she nods, “I’ll make sure I can.”

“I’ll get us the perfect spot.”

Joel knocks on the top of the hood again.

“Shit, you have to board now, or it will fuck up their flight plan.”

“Okay,” She presses a quick kiss to my lips, and I grip her and bruise her lips in return. “See you in two weeks,” she inhales, sliding off my lap and latching onto the door handle, her expression going bleak.

“Natalie—”

She turns back to me, her stare filled with trepidation. “I just hate feeling like we’re being robbed straight out of the gate, you know?”

“Tell me how to fix it.”

“There’s no fixing it . . . but at the same time, you gave me . . .” she shakes her head, her electric blue eyes stunning me along with her broadening smile that lights up my whole fucking world.

Damn this woman.

“Easton, last night was the best night of my life .”

“Mine too,” I caress her cheek. “We’ll have so many more, so don’t let errant thoughts take this away from us, okay? Don’t let your guilt ruin this. Text me. Talk to me about it. Make that your first promise to me.”

She nods as I press my forehead to hers. “Say it.”

“I promise, Easton.”

“Good. And I promise to do everything in my power to keep this between us until you’re ready to talk to your dad.”

“Thank you,” she murmurs against my lips.

“Go, before I do something really stupid.”

Anxiety overtakes me with the thousand ways this could go wrong, and she quiets my erratic thoughts with the tenderness in her kiss, soothing me as we desperately draw upon each other’s mouths. I sink into her affection, into her need for me, into the promises we have yet to make, and the declaration dancing on our tongues as our time ticks out. She breaks the kiss with Joel’s last knock and exits the SUV, stalking toward the plane and boarding without a glance back. Though it stings like a bitch, I know why. For the same reason I can’t fly with her and tuck her in.

I revel in what this ache means, in what my heart is relaying.

My chest tightens unbearably as I watch the plane taxi down the runway, flashes of the last forty-eight hours flitting through my mind as our connection continues to buzz through me with the strength of a tsunami. As her plane floats into the late summer sunset, the ache in my chest begins to rage, only confirming the deep-seated truth that began to take shape inside me months ago.

The truth that our souls clicked seamlessly together before our bodies ever aligned, and it can no longer be denied or undone.